Monday, March 30, 2015

There are some things in life that just don't make sense. Try as you might, there is no explanation. Consider these chickens.

They are out enjoying the spring weather, scratching around, looking for greens, grains, bugs, and other chicken delights. Makes sense. That is what you expect from chickens.

What you may not be able to see in the photo is that they are scratching up a pile of "stuff" that was just shoveled out of the chicken house.

We use the deep litter method which essentially means we add bedding material (mostly shredded paper in our case) to the house floor. So there are layers of bedding, manure, and feed waste that piles up for awhile until we need to clean out the chicken house to fertilize the garden or the litter has simply just become too deep.

Today Kellen cleaned out part of the chicken house to prepare for chicks. So this litter has literally been sitting in the hen house for the entire winter. The hens have been content to walk on it and poop on it, but I have never seen them scratch through it in the hen house.

But shovel it into a bucket, and pile it near the garden, and suddenly it is a hot spot of hen scratching activity! There is no explanation.

And just because we all need a little cute in our day, I give you baby rabbits.

Friday, March 06, 2015

We woke up this morning to beautiful blue skies and sunshine. It really was gorgeous outside. As many in the area commented, it was like a scene from Narnia.

These pictures were taken with my phone and haven't been edited. The sky really was that blue.

Sadly this beauty has also been brutal. Many are still without power, and the melting snows from a few weeks ago, and heavy rains before this snow, have caused widespread flooding. I hate to see what may happen when all this snow melts this weekend. I am afraid the messes have just begun.

I love these snow days with the whole family home. We worked puzzles, played checkers, completed homework, and relaxed. This morning I worked on one of my favorite snow day activities.

The 2015 garden is officially started. It felt good to have my fingers in the dirt again, to browse through the seeds, and imagine the taste of those summer vegetables. There is something deeply satisfying about beginning that process in defiance of winter. Who cares that there is a foot of snow on the ground? I'm going to grow something. Take that winter!

Thursday, March 05, 2015

Today is Vivian's ninth birthday. Today we are also looking at the most snow we have seen since living here. Over a foot fell over night and it is still coming down.

Happy Birthday Vivian! No school!

We also woke to no power. Tim said it went out around 2:30 AM. We haven't found a restoration estimate, but others near us have heard 3:00 PM.

This morning we ventured out to check on animals, clear paths, and pull out the "no electric" supplies.

Tim got the generator running. It doesn't run the house, but it is enough for the important things like the refrigerator, a crockpot, and the blower on the wood burner. (And those other important things like the coffee pot, the wifi, and the phone charger.)

Vivian was able to celebrate her birthday a little last weekend. She and Mamaw had a girls' day out. Viv got her nails done.

The next day, she got her ears pierced.

Our baby is growing up so quickly. If the weather clears she will have a couple friends over this weekend.

For today, we are sitting near the wood burner cuddled up doing homework, reading, and watching the snow fall. We may bundle up and go out and play before the predicted bitter cold comes. At the least we'll be going out to tend animals.

It looks like we may have a couple days like this. I don't mind the quiet days at home. They'd be nicer with electric, but it could be worse.